Jullien snorted at his feigned accent. “I don’t know. You’re looking a little worn out.”
Bastien gaped. “I don’t want to hear it from someone as old as you are!”
“Old? Hah! That’s it!”
Next thing Bastien knew, they were in a ring, sparring, as a crowd gathered around them to watch it.
He lost track of the time as they laughed and beat each other, all the while urging one another to hit harder and move faster.
Hot and sweaty, he saw Jullien get distracted. So he moved in for the kill.
Before he could blink, Jullien whipped around, grabbed him, and slammed him to the mat, then kissed his cheek. “We have to stop now.” He jerked his chin toward Ushara, who stood off to the side, hands on hips, glaring at them.
Bastien looked over and laughed. “Ah, crap. Now I’m the one who got you into trouble with your female.”
Grinning roguishly, Jullien got up and offered Bastien his hand to help him to his feet. Both of them were bruised, sweating, and bleeding. Yet neither cared.
It’d been a good match and one Bastien had needed more than he realized.
Ushara shook her head as they neared her. “Really? This is how you wanted to say good-bye to each other?”
Jullien rubbed sheepishly at his neck while Bastien went for towels. “We were just going to practice a bit. Then we got a little carried away.”
“Alittle?” She glanced at the blood all over the mat, which looked as if someone had been murdered there and their body dragged away to be hidden.
Trajen emerged from the dispersing crowd to join them. “I’m impressed with you both.”
Bastien handed a towel to Jullien before he wiped at the sweat and blood on his stomach where he still bore his League Ravin mark. “Yeah, I had no idea Julie could do all that. I’d love to see him and Fain Hauk go at it. Julie’s the only one I’ve ever fought who could drag my ass around a mat as much as Fain did.”
“War Hauk Fain?” Jullien scowled.
Bastien cringed as he realized what he’d let slip. But he wasn’t about to lie to his cousin for anything. “Yeah. I used to train with him when he lived on Kirovar.”
Jullien wiped his face. “I had no idea you knew him.”
“Small universe, right? I figured you two probably knew each other, since he and his brother went to your school when you were kids, but given how Anatoles feel about War Hauks, and War Hauks feel about Anatoles, and the long-standing feud between your lineages, I knew to never,evermention to him or his brother that we were related or knew each other inanycapacity. Andarions are ahighlyterritorial and volatile species.” Not to mention the story Aros had once told him about Jullien and Dancer.
Honestly, he didn’t know what to believe there, but he was sure there was a lot more to the story than Aros had given him. Because nothing and no one could ever diminish Jullien in his mind, especially after his kindness to Bastien over the last couple of years.
As far as he was concerned, Jullien was a saint.
Jullien nodded at Bastien. “Good call, kyzi. They’d have killed you.”
“Exactly.” Bastien wiped at his face and shoulders. “Sorry about this, Ushara. Please don’t harm my cousin. It was all my fault.”
“Hardly. I’m the one who started it.”
When they began to argue over blame, Ushara stopped them. “It’s fine.” She gently wiped at the blood on Jullien’s lip. “I’m glad that your arm’s working so well. But you shouldn’t be stressing it so soon.”
“I wasn’t using it too much. I don’t have precise control over it yet, and I didn’t want to kill him.”
Ushara sighed in bitter amusement. “So, Bas, since it’s now so late, are you staying until morning?”
How he wished he could, but… “Nah, I was going to head on. Since I got Julie into trouble, don’t want to risk wearing out any more of my welcome.”
Jullien dried his hair. “Where are you headed?”
“Starken for supplies and more intel. Then I’m after Barnabas.”
